COLLEGEVILLE — As an admirer once noted, Major Benjamin Brooks defies the typical stereotype of the hardened state trooper.

Brooks’ stint as one of Pennsylvania’s first African-American state troopers was several decades and many promotions ago.

But it surely set the groundwork not only for his career in law enforcement, but also for his second career as the founder of Major Ben’s Consulting Agency.

A routine traffic stop in the early ’60s must seem a lifetime ago for the engaging and genteel North Carolina native as he sat in the dining room of the beautiful Collegeville home he shares with his wife, Dr. Barbara Collins Brooks, and recalled that day.

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It was a few years after he left the 101st Airborne Division — “my first jump was actually my first plane ride,” said Brooks, laughing — which was his first gig after moving to Philadelphia in the late 1950s.

Brooks had stopped a man for speeding who turned out to be a fellow Southerner.

“At that time, if you stopped somebody for speeding who was an out of state resident you had to take him in for an immediate hearing,” said Brooks, who was working out of Hamburg at the time. “We go to the magistrate’s office and the guy says to me, ‘You know, I was ready to give you a hard time, but the moment you started talking I changed.’ ’’

It wasn’t what Brooks said, but how he said it, with a solid measure of respect, that disarmed the speeder.

“I just said, ‘Good morning, sir, may I see your operator’s license and registration?’ He said he pleaded guilty for the first time because of the way he was treated,” Brooks recalled. “If you treat people like human beings they will respond in kind.”

Brooks has been adhering to that philosophy ever since.

“People do not equate law enforcement with sensitivity. They see you more as Rambo than Mr. Rogers,” Brooks said.

Recognizing Brooks’ uncommon sensitivity as an asset, his superiors quickly elevated him further and further up the ladder.

After five years as a state trooper, Brooks — who ultimately earned a degree from Kutztown University and graduated from The FBI National Academy — collaborated with his colleagues to form the Pennsylvania Crime Commission.

In 1976, after four years as a plainclothes criminal investigator, he was promoted to Corporal.

Give him another half a dozen years and he would make sergeant, then lieutenant.

In 1982 another promotion developed for Brooks, even though his name wasn’t initially in the running.

‘I was called in and they said they were in the process of promoting the first African- American to captain of the state police, so he asked me if I had any ideas who it should be,” Brooks said. “I said, ‘You’re looking at him.’ At the time, friends of mine had more seniority than I did.”

In retrospect, Brooks is especially proud of what he accomplished as captain.

“When I came in we really tried to transform that barracks into a showplace,” he said. “We did a lot of innovative things and people were raving about it.”

Next up, Brooks went to work with Colonel John Schafer, who, according to a report, was appointed by Gov. Bob Casey to take over the state police at a time when the force had been criticized by a special House committee for failing to pursue crimes by its own members, as well as “unfair and discriminatory discipline” and “inadequately integrating minority officers.”

“I was asked to come to Harrisburg to work with them and took over the Affirmative Action Contract Compliance Function, which was the first time an enlisted person held that position to develop policy and training procedures,” recalled Brooks, who was promoted to major in 1987.

Retiring five years later, the name Major Ben’s Consulting Agency seemed to be a natural fit for his new venture, Brooks said.

“Everybody began to know me as Major Ben, so it became my calling card,” he said, smiling.

Brooks’ second act would take his 30 years of imbuing law enforcement with his trademark sensitivity a step further — empowering organizations and individuals with the right perspective to create diverse environments through his frequently humorous but always pertinent talks.

“I was very fortunate in that I didn’t stay in any position with the state police any more than three or four years, which gave me a nice variety of experiences,” Brooks said. “Had I been on the road as a trooper all those years, I don’t think I would have had the same perspective as I do now. Folks ask me how is it that you are a major in the state police and yet you can show such sensitivity? It’s because of the varied experiences I’ve had.”

Brooks barely had time to indulge in his favorite hobby, playing basketball, before his first booking came along shortly after he left the state police force.

Since then, his clients have included Microsoft Unisys, Vassar College, Domino’s Pizza, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Manage Health Network, the Borough of Norristown — which benefited from its first comprehensive diversity awareness program — and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office.

The topics have ranged from valuing and managing diversity, prevention of sexual harassment and conflict resolution.

In an ever changing workplace, the things that make us all different go well beyond age, race, gender and ethnic background these days, and Brooks has carved his renown educating employees on all facets of multiculturalism.

As one client put it, he brings people together “through personal anecdotes, humor, charm, passion and his highly energized interactive style, and is able to convey the most serious message.”

“If I can connect with you so that you can understand things from another person’s perspective, it starts to make sense to you,” Brooks said. “Empathy is one of the most powerful words in the English language, but it’s one that’s least understood or appreciated.”

More firms are investing in diversity awareness as a way to improve their bottom lines, Brooks said.

“Organizations are now being sued for their failure to train. The more you can train your people, the lower your insurance premiums will be, because now you don’t have to pay out those huge sums. We try to get organizations to stop being penny-wise and dollar-foolish about this. Deal with it up front and save yourself a lot of headaches down the road. My whole thing now is to say to organizations, ‘Be smart and get ahead of the game.’ The couple of dollars you’re going to spend to train your people is going to pay huge dividends in terms of morale and in costs down the road.”

To folks who would say, “Well, you just want to make money,” Brooks responds, “No, that isn’t it at all. Money will come, but what’s important to me is to find ways to make a difference.”

Brooks’ wife, who has had success promoting diversity awareness with her own business, Positive Trends, Inc., is the one who keeps a scrapbook of clippings on her husband’s triumphs, including several columns he penned for The Times Herald.

Brooks, who relishes playing basketball in a senior league and spending time with granddaughters Mecca and Micah, is one of several diversity trainers featured in the book “Real World Human Resources Strategies that Work.”

His chapter begins: “Diversity is perhaps one of the most loaded words in the English language. Pregnant with possibility, bathed in misperceptions and tarnished by ill use, the word can conjure up a tense tangle of emotions within the average American. Such emotionalism derails any logical attempt at a realistic and objective inclusion of diversity into the American workplace and social consciousness. Too often, we bring with us preconceived baggage — established boundaries and engendered prejudices — that cloud any attempt at understanding and practicing the art of diversity. We live and work in a very ‘politically correct’ world, where businesspeople claim to promote diversity in the workplace. But do we really understand what diversity means?”

Even after 22 years of speaking, Brooks said he is gratified by the results that let him know that indeed people can understand what diversity means when he is the one doing the illuminating.

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘I didn’t even want to come to this talk, but now I’m glad I did because of the way you presented the information to us,’ ” Brooks said. “I get very excited about sharing. My whole life has been about giving myself away. I will do this stuff as long as I have a voice.”